Year in Pictures: Daniel Krieger's 15 Best Food Photos of 2012

If you follow the New York food scene even remotely, you’ve likely slobbered over Daniel Krieger’s photos many times before, even if you didn’t clock the name in the credit.

As Eater‘s chief photographer, he often gives NYC restaurant obsessives their first look inside the most anticipated new openings in town. Shooting for the New York Times, he provides the the visual complement to some of the Grey Lady’s most talked-about reviews, from the four-star Le Bernardin to the white-hot import Mission Chinese. And if you go to the websites of some of the city’s best restaurants, you just might see Krieger’s work there too, as chefs often choose his stunning images to represent the work they do in he kitchen.

Indeed, when we started sifting through the photographs that best represent this past year in NYC dining, it became clear that Krieger was right there, camera in hand, for just about every blockbuster story in food. When carrots suddenly became the sexiest new ingredient on the table, Krieger stepped up and snapped 2012’s most memorable carrot porn. And when out-of-town chefs like Pok Pok’s Andy Ricker and Danny Bowien arrived to build their empires, he composed iconic portraits that made them impossible to forget.

Since Krieger seared so many vivid images into our minds in 2012, we reached out to him to find out what he remembered as his best food photographs from the past 12 month. Here, he breaks down his 15 top picks in his own words, taking us inside the kitchen with Eric Ripert and up-close-and-personal with some of the year’s most eye-popping dishes.

If you follow the New York food scene even remotely, you've likely slobbered over Daniel Krieger's photos many times before, even if you didn't clock the name in the credit.
As Eater's chief photographer, he often gives NYC restaurant obsessives their first look inside the most anticipated new openings in town. Shooting for the New York Times, he provides the the visual complement to some of the Grey Lady's most talked-about reviews, from the four-star Le Bernardin to the white-hot import Mission Chinese. And if you go to the websites of some of the city's best restaurants, you just might see Krieger's work there too, as chefs often choose his stunning images to represent the work they do in he kitchen.
Indeed, when we started sifting through the photographs that best represent this past year in NYC dining, it became clear that Krieger was right there, camera in hand, for just about every blockbuster story in food. When carrots suddenly became the sexiest new ingredient on the table, Krieger stepped up and snapped 2012's most memorable carrot porn. And when out-of-town chefs like Pok Pok's Andy Ricker and Danny Bowien arrived to build their empires, he composed iconic portraits that made them impossible to forget.
Since Krieger seared so many vivid images into our minds in 2012, we reached out to him to find out what he remembered as his best food photographs from the past 12 month. Here, he breaks down his 15 top picks in his own words, taking us inside the kitchen with Eric Ripert and up-close-and-personal with some of the year's most eye-popping dishes.
Follow Daniel Krieger on Instagram/Twitter (@danielkrieger), and check out more of his food photography www.nycfoodphotographer.com.

Empellon

Alex Stupak hired me to come shoot at his two restaurants, Empellón Taqueria and Empellón Cocina. The food he prepares is gorgeous and his wife, Lauren Resler, handles all the desserts, like the one shown here. The colors and plating of everything make shooting it a pleasure. Part of good photography is well-prepared, beautiful food that's expertly plated. Of course, the other part is me being a badass photographer. Did I just say that?

Cesare Casella

Cesare is a talented chef and a fun guy to be around, and you know when he's near because the smell of rosemary will hit you—he's always got a fresh bundle tucked into his shirt pocket. I had done some photography of his new Upper East Side restaurant [Salumeria Rosi] for him, shooting some food and portraits. The best part was that he had his mother there with him and wanted a bunch of photos with her. She was a sweet little old Italian woman who didn't speak a lick of English, which was cool because I barely speak any myself. This is the portrait I liked the best because you can just see his pride and personality in the picture. He's one of those larger-than-life characters.

NoMad

I hadn't really done much photography at Eleven Madison Park through the years so I was excited when the NoMad opened, because it gave me a chance to work with restaurant GM extraordinaire Will Guidara and acclaimed chef Daniel Humm. I had several shoots at the NoMad for Eater.com, Time Out New York, and then the main review for the New York Times. I don't really eat food during my shoots, but I got a chance to go back for dinner and had that chicken for two (shown after carving on the right), which I think was one of the top 10 things I've ever eaten. It was hauntingly good.

Andy Ricker (Pok Pok)

One of my favorite portraits I photographed in 2012 (or maybe ever) is this shot of Andy Ricker that I did for Eater.com. Andy is an intense, intelligent chef who came from Portland to open up on a street in Brooklyn that had no real destination restaurants before. It blew up. Everyone was talking about this Thai restaurant run by a white dude in Brooklyn with hour-long waits. It was crazy, but through it all he has always seemed humble, which I like. I also like that I had one of my photos of Andy published in Rolling Stone recently, which was a first for me. This version is slightly cropped, but you can see the full image here.

Bowery Diner

Chef/owner Mathieu Palombino had previously hired me to do some work at his pizza spot Motorino (which remains one of my favorite pizza spots in NYC), so when he opened Bowery Diner he hired me again. The thing I love about Mathieu is his enthusiasm for food and art. He really gets into the process when we work together, which I like. Not all of his ideas work—he made me pour syrup on the table next to pancakes and I knew it was just going to look like someone accidentally spilled syrup—but I like that spirit. I don't even know if the dish pictured here is even on the menu. He went crazy and started throwing food on a plate and said, "That looks awesome!" I was like, "Hell yeah it does." He even framed a version of this photo; if you go to Bowery Diner you'll see a big framed print which made me laugh when I saw it...awesome!

Tim Ferriss

I was hired to do several studio shoots for a book by author Tim Ferriss, who gained a really good following writing some NYT bestseller books including The 4-Hour Workweek. We worked on several shoots for his new book, The 4-Hour Chef, which just came out and looks awesome. I've heard it mentioned by a few people just randomly, so I think it's going to do well. I did a good deal of the principal photography for it, mostly the food technique photos and the finished dishes, such as these crab cakes. I got to work several times with Tim and was impressed by his wild enthusiasm, energy, and drive. It makes you ashamed for spending an entire weekend smoking weed and eating take-out Chinese (not that I did that, I was talking about you!).

ON20 (Hartford, CT)

The majority of my assignments are NYC based gigs—it doesn't usually make sense to fly a food photographer across the world when you can find someone great nearby (though I love to travel, so if you have a restaurant feel free to hire my ass!). But I recently did this shoot in Hartford, Connecticut at ON20. The team there is young and inventive. Most of them have put in time in some of the top kitchens in NYC (I think I heard wd~50 and some Daniel Boulud restaurants mentioned in the kitchen). I loved the elegance of the dishes and the creativity—really beautiful looking food. Not to diss my home state, but I really didn't think any restaurants like this existed there. I was happy to be proven wrong.

American Cut at Revel Casino (Atlantic City)

I photographed a few restaurants at the new Revel casino in Atlantic City, including Azure and American Cut. The latter is a sprawling steakhouse with beautiful pieces of dry-aged meat, seafood, and delicious fattening sides. Here's a sensibly sized portion of meat for your dinner. Enjoy!

Le Bernardin

When I got into this whole photography thing a few years back one of my goals was to start shooting for the New York Times. I've been lucky enough to be shooting for them pretty consistently now for the past two years, mostly reviews by the main food critic in the Dining Section. I've photographed for three different reviewers since I've been freelancing for the Times. The thing I love about the Times is the intensity both for me and for the restaurants being reviewed. In NYC, the Times review is the one restauranteurs usually take most seriously. I don't think a bad review will break a restaurant, but it can definitely help make one. It's an exciting thing rolling into a restaurant and saying, "I'm here from the New York Times"—it doesn't get old for me. This is from the four-star restaurant Le Bernardin with Eric Ripert, one of the most talented chefs I've had the pleasure to work with. You can see the rest of the shots in the slide show from the NYT review.

Acme

In 2012 I must have fallen into a deep Van Winkle-style sleep (by that I mean the Pappy Van Winkle-style, caused by too much bourbon), because when I woke up carrots were the new hotness. Why were carrots so popular? Who decided they should be on a plate by themselves? Where the hell does a black carrot come from? I know none of the answers to these stupid questions, but I loved the way these carrots at Acme looked. I shot them for the main review by Jay Cheshes in Time Out New York.

Hot Bread Kitchen

HBK is a great bakery that focuses on helping foreign-born and low-income women and men get started in the food world. I had done a shoot with them a few months back focusing on portraits of all the workers there, but this specific action shot stood out—I liked the contrast of hands with the dough and the feeling you're there making that bread.

Mission Chinese

I've never smoked crack before, but I imagine it's pretty addictive and you want more of it. I've never had any serious narcotics actually, but I think I had the culinary equivalent when I tasted the salt-cod fried rice and cumin lamb at Mission Chinese, a new San Francisco import from all-around cool cat Danny Bowien. Those two dishes are just the start of an amazing, fairly priced feast you're going to have if you can brave the long lines (my advice is try the lunch there, which has less of a wait and the same menu). I was pretty excited when I got to shoot this hot spot for the Times review, in which Pete Wells gave them a well-deserved two stars. I knew I had to come back and try the food after that, and I fell in love with this spot. I'm completely addicted to it now.

Alobar

This was an intense but amazing shoot I did for the publication Edible Queens. Alobar is a new restaurant in Long Island City and they do some "nose to tail" cooking, which involves freshly butcher pigs at the restaurant. For this feature we went through the entire butchering process and then finished by having chef Ian Kapitan prepare a dish from the pig he had butchered minutes before. It's a graphic scene, but I feel like if you're going to eat meat you should be willing to see the process of how it arrives at your plate. It was definitely an experience, and not one I got in Hebrew school. You can see more photos from the shoot here and here.

Rosemary's

This is the house-made mozzeralla at a new West Village restaurant named Rosemary's. Some dishes look better in action, and I knew that tearing into this piece of cheese with a fork and knife was really going to make it look more delicious. Before that it looked nice but was kind of like a pool of semi-melted cheese without any depth. But now, it looks like you're right there, about to get down with it. The restaurant interior has a really nice, airy vibe and is always buzzing with patrons, and upstairs there's a cool rooftop garden, which is where I shot the dishes. You can see a few more photos in the slide show from the New York Times review.

En Japanese Brasserie

Sometimes accidents make for the most interesting art. Some artists admit this, some don't (because artists always want credit, those needy bastards!). On occasion something happens that you weren't expecting, and the outcome is pretty cool. Case in point: While shooting the interiors of this Japanese restaurant in the West Village, I went to fix the position of a chair and didn't make it out of the frame when the camera timer went off. I got caught in the shot. I love the ghost-like image and, while I might not have this photo featured on Eater.com (who I shot it for), it will probably go up on my website. And I will tell people I meant to do that, of course—that's my art!

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